DFMMay2017
11
GOING FROM EXPECTING
TO THE UNEXPECTED
TAMARA ROBINSON
11
Last year, when
Elise Zanoni found
herself going into
labour more than ten
weeks early, her husband
was on deployment in
Afghanistan.
Elise grew up in Wagga
Wagga where she met
Wayne, who was a resource
manager based at Kapooka
at the time. They posted
to Wodonga where they
lived for ten years, raising
Isabella, 13, Samuel, 11,
and Maddison, 10.
Life was relatively
straight forward for the
family, who were eagerly
expecting twins. They
just didn’t anticipate
Elise going into labour
while Wayne was still in
Afghanistan, or for their
lives to be turned upside
down by an emergency
caesarean to save the lives
of their babies.
Their identical twins
were born in Wodonga and
immediately flown to
Melbourne, where they
would spend the next two
weeks in a neonatal
intensive care unit.
Two days after surgery,
Elise discharged herself
and travelled to Melbourne
Defence families expect
postings, deployments
and EVEN LIVING
APART FOR A WHILE.
What you may never plan
for is GOING THROUGH
A LIFE-THREATENING
EMERGENCY ON
YOUR OWN.